


The Siren's Grey Eye

by An1osy



Category: The Little Mermaid (1989), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: All humans are quirkless, Alternate Universe - The Little Mermaid Fusion, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Merfolk still have quirks, Minor Divergence, Momo is Eric, Musicals, Ningyo, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Past Domestic Violence, Princess Yaoyorozu Momo, Saved-your-life-once to Friends to Lovers, Shouto is Ariel, The Todoroki's are merfolk, Todomomo Fest, Todoroki Shouto is Bad at Feelings, Todoroki Shouto is a Dork, Violence, Yaoyorozu Momo is a Good Friend, other characters may appear later, they met as kids
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:47:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23224243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/An1osy/pseuds/An1osy
Summary: Todoroki Shouto is a siren prince dissatisfied with his underwater life and curious about the surface world. After fighting with his father on his sixteenth birthday, Shouto turns to the Sea Witch, Dabi, so he can escape this world he dislikes so much and become human. Then, he'll find his deal with Dabi had more conditions and dangers than he thought, but nothing new friendships and the marvelous new world won't be worthy of. And, among the most amazing treasures he found, was her, Yaoyorozu Momo, a human princess with whom he shares a past he didn't really try to forget, and who'll maybe be able to help him break his curse.Or The Little Mermaid AU for Todomomo
Relationships: Todoroki Shouto & Yaoyorozu Momo, Todoroki Shouto/Yaoyorozu Momo
Comments: 23
Kudos: 43
Collections: TodoMomo Collection





	1. prologue - fishtail and tailless

“Mom.” Shouto called, entering the Queen’s chamber after his mother stopped talking alone. Rei, Queen of the Seven Seas stood frozen as her youngest son approached. She was shivering, even if her magic prevented her from suffering from cold. “Mom?”

It wasn’t Shouto calling her, no. Her baby Shouto would never bear such a cruel eye, such manner that screamed her greatest fears. She wouldn’t let him be like that. _Never._ She couldn’t. So, Rei grabbed that thing trying to possess Shouto and threw him over the hot waters coming from the small geyser the Queen had in her bedchambers, made with her husband’s magic. That would free her boy from this burden, yes.

But when his scream hit her, guttural and suffering, hurt, crying, Rei understood her awful, awful, awful mistake.

“Shouto!” She shouted, pulling her son closer. “Mom is so sorry, so, so sorry!” His eye was developing an ugly burn bubble, hot and threatening to his left eye. The Queen was quick to activate her ice magic ― the reason why her husband chose her to be his queen ― and covered her son’s eye with it so she could alleviate his pain. Only her child screamed louder, more terrified than ever, kicking and pulling under his mother tight grip.

“Mom, stop it!” He cried. “DAD! DADDY, HELP!”

“No, Shouto” Rei’s panic at the idea of Enji coming their way made her hold Shouto closer. “Don’t call him, please! Mom will help you…”

“DAD!”

Royal Sea Guards opened the doors to the Queen’s Chambers, and to them followed Todoroki Enji. The horror in his eyes as he saw his Queen harming his rightful heir flamed his fire magic as he slammed his trident on the floor and separated mother and child. Rei fell on the floor, immediately creeping away from her husband as he stepped closer. Only the King stopped to crawl the Prince in his arms. Shouto was crying still, trembling while over his eye an ice burn mark settled. Enji wanted to make his child stop crying, to make him stronger, but he couldn’t. Not now.

“Guards!” He yelled instead, and both Shouto and Rei quivered under his powerful voice. “Take the Queen to my chambers and _don’t let her out.”_

And so they did. The Queen was still punching the doors when Enji took Shouto to see the imperial doctors, her protests and claims to see her son furthering his tears. The pain ― no matter how bad it had been ― was over, but his confusion persisted.

“Stop crying.” Enji growled with his son on his arms. “It’s not even hurting anymore. Don’t be weak.”

Shouto was only six years old, but he already knew better than to not listen to his father’s demands. The little Prince sat away from his father, cleaning his face from his tears and avoiding touching his new scar, afraid he could tear off his own skin. And when the doctors said there wasn’t anything they could do to remove the mark, only covering it with a seaweed eyepatch, and the King started shouting loud enough for the abyssal fish to hear, Shouto didn’t stay much longer.

He swam away, not minding his path or destination. He couldn’t understand why his own mother would do that to him. She always loved him the most, and after his father started training him to be the Crown Prince, distancing him from his older siblings, she loved him even more in their place. It wasn’t that she hated him now, so I must’ve been something he did. What was it? He didn’t know! Had he done something she didn’t like? Was he a bad kid? Why?

Shouto rubbed his eyes with his arm, shooing away new tears that fought against the current as he flapped his tail stronger, swimming the fastest a young siren could. That, yes, until he hit something, someone. A girl. He held her by her armpits since she seemed to be unconscious. Not a siren girl. This thing had two weird limbs coming out from her hips, those involved by a strange jellyfish-like clothing that descended almost until the end of the said limbs.

“Hey” He struggled to say, keeping his throat full of cries still. When she didn’t answer, just a little air bubble coming out of her lips, he shook her, displeased. “Wake up and swim! I’m not going to hold you forever!”

“Princess!” A voice from above the waterline startled Shouto, but he made sure to hold the tailless girl tighter before he swam closer and emerged to hear better. “We need to find her!”

“If she’s underwater” Another sailor said. Both of them had limbs that looked just like the ones the girl had! Shouto never saw any creature like that. “She won’t make it! We have to get her to the surface now!”

He looked at the girl in his hands. Maybe they were looking for her. And if that was true then… Shouto’s eyes were as wide as ever while he pushed the girl up and put her head above the water. She still didn’t respond anyway, so the boy laid her over his chest, huffing his breath loud as he swam on his back towards the beach. This close to the shore, with more sand than sea under him, Shouto still crawled a few meters before he dropped the girl on the floor, pushing her so he could wake her up.

“Wake up, lady” He asked, pushing her belly and feeling it too rigid. Was there something blocking her breath? The Prince looked around and found himself a sharp rock that he used to tear apart her clothing, finding another harder piece covering her stomach. He had to use more strength over this one, but eventually found the ribbons at her back that had it closed and cut them with his rock. She started breathing again, coughing before her eyes fluttered and fought to stay open.

“You’re awake!” Shouto breathed with difficulty, being away long enough from the water made his skin and scales twitch in discomfort. “Your friends will help you.”

“You-” The little girl reached for him with her tiny arms, but he was already rushing back to the sea, so naïve in not even trying to hide his tail that was just as foreign to her as her legs were to him. “Who-”

He left so early, dehydrated to a dangerous extent to sea creatures, but the Yaoyorozu Princess was sure she, in her almost drowned and dead dreams, saw the boy who saved her. Half human, half fish. White and red scales like Koi fish and a single grey eye visible. For years she searched for the merfolk but was discredited. Still, she believed and never doubted on his existence.

While in the ocean, not much later, the youngest prince of the Seven Seas would regret ever coming to see his mother, ever screaming, ever calling for his father, ever being so weak. But he didn’t regret saving the tailless girl.


	2. one - what he's hiding from

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What’s a human?”
> 
> “Um” Natsuo looked up, scratching his head in thoughts. “Ah! There. It’s better if you see one. On the boat, there’s a human. It’s that thing that looks normal, but their tails are torn apart in two. They call those legs, I guess.”

Shouto was quite used to the sight now, after all, it’s been ten years since he saved that child. He later would discover her to be Yaoyorozu Momo, the only Princess to a nearby human kingdom. She’s been looking for him for three years by now.

When he had just completed thirteen, Shouto, just like any other siren in his father’s kingdom, was granted one trip — one and only for a lifetime, any time he wanted to — to the coral border, to learn what was the dangerous human race. While some sirens took ages to finally go or never did so, Shouto wanted to go as soon as his father ended his birthday party. His provisions — for a whole day as he requested — finely done by his sister, Fuyumi, with whom he shared a special bond based on her impressive maternal instincts that he much needed and their similar tails, both stained white and red.

At the time, all Shouto wanted was to escape, at least for a while. He did think that maybe he should keep this trip for another day, one when he would be about to burst and do something stupid. He, a thirteen-year-old, also thought the day was that one; and left immediately.

Often, the sirens that were there for the first time were guided by their parents if too young. Shouto took advantage of Enji being a King to ask his sister to lead him there instead. But Fuyumi never went to the coral barrier, she said she wasn’t interested, thinking that the slight fear in her face wasn’t there to expose her.

“Natsuo can take you.” She was as gracious as their mother in Shouto’s few memories from that time. Fuyumi knew how to smile, made it an art, and was good at it. All her fake smiles were as beautiful as the sincere ones. “He was there when he was your age.”

“Did father take him?” Shouto frowned. Why would his father hesitate in taking him if he had done it already for Natsuo? He wasn’t any happy about it, but he knew Enji favored him more than his older brother anyway.

“No.” Fuyumi smiled. Fake beautiful smile. “No. Not him.”

He hadn’t asked anything more after that. Fuyumi had a special smile just for when she talked about their oldest brother, the one she was using now. Touya wasn’t a big part of his life since Shouto was too young and Enji had already started his training, distancing the siblings. However, Natsuo And Fuyumi were very attached to him. They all didn’t talk much about his death either, or his mother’s death. He wondered if his death would make any difference at all either.

But the waves were weird close to the waterline. They flowed brushing his skin, stronger as they approached the surface. Then, above water passing, rolling, rounding, involving him like he was nothing, no obstacle in the ocean’s path. For the first time in his life, Shouto felt unimportant. In a good way.

The air up there was lighter.

“Come here, lil’ bro.” Natsuo smiled to him, understanding his brother’s amazement, leaning over the dead and sumptuous part of the coral reef that emerged some meters away. “I’ll show you something.”

When Shouto got there, his brother’s hands pushing him down to hide behind the rocks and reef, he didn’t know yet what he was looking at. Something, he thought at the time, was floating in the water very far away. It was made of wood — not that he knew then what wood was — and it was called a boat. That was what Natsuo said.

“Boats were invented by humans so they could travel on the water since they can’t swim.”

“What’s a human?”

“Um” Natsuo looked up, scratching his head in thoughts. “Ah! There. It’s better if you see one. On the boat, there’s a human. It’s that thing that looks normal, but their tails are torn apart in two. They call those legs, I guess.”

Shouto stared at the human in his tiny boat. The construction had barely enough space for its owner, but the human got from it a big ball of confusing lines that he tossed towards the sea. The water made it unfold and show many little squares where Shouto’s tail wouldn’t be able to pass through.

“Oh” Natsuo breathed behind him. “I didn’t want to show you this so soon, but we’re already here, so…” his brother had a frown, and preoccupied eyes that tried to be gentle while only freaked Shouto out, even if he weren’t going to let it show. “Don’t be scared. This is why contact with humans is completely forbidden and we can only come so close to them once or twice in a lifetime. They’re predators. Our predators. They eat fishes and sirens like sharks.”

“What-” Shouto’s shock was blocked by Natsuo’s hand over his mouth.

The fisherman was looking at their direction. Natsuo pulled them both lower, breath heavy and heart pounding until the fisherman finally looked away. He let Shouto’s mouth go, but still held him down while checking if the human wasn’t really paying any attention to them. With a finger to his lips, he motioned to Shouto to look back and see the human pulling dozens of fish out from the water, ignoring their desperate flips and breath as he tossed them over each other in his boat. Since the merfolk people had established one of their kingdoms near, the whole area was brimming and fertile with marine sea. The animals and vegetables felt the place was safe since sirens were there too and could protect them.

“Humans find places like this the most enjoyable because they’re fertile. I guess they don’t remember the place is fertile because it was free from humans in the first place.” Natsuo spat. Shouto knew his brother was very rancorous. “Once they kill this place, they’ll leave and search for another one to do the same.” He took his eyes off the fisherman as he started to cut open some fish, taking off their viscera. Shouto couldn’t do the same. He owned that to them. Someone had to know what they were going through. “That’s why the King wants to go to war against them.”

That was enough for Shouto to pay attention to his brother again. War? With the humans? How? Would he use the trident? That was a present from Susanoo himself to the merfolk first King and wasn’t to be used freely. Even if Shouto supposed war wasn’t that of a freely move.

“He’s waiting until you’re sixteen and ready to lead your own battalion. You’re the crown prince, you should take us to victory.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Yeah. War isn’t in my best interests either, but at least we’ll get rid of the humans.”

“Are they all like this?” Shouto asked, his hands pressed on the reef as he tried to hide himself well enough.

“Yes.” Natsuo answered, but it didn’t quite stitch. He turned, ready to leave. “Let’s get out of here before he sees us.”

“I’ll stay the whole day.” Shouto hugged his bag across his torso, feeling the food Fuyumi prepared for him and also the knife she hid between the clothes. He didn’t know why she had done it before, but he supposed now that it was for protection if any human saw them. The handle fit his palm just right.

Natsuo stopped on his tracks. His tail, as white as the sand in the open sea, as white as their mother’s, flicked side to side, his translucent fins rolling as he faced his brother again. “You can’t be here alone. What if one of them sees you?”

“I’ll go down and swim fast.” Shouto shrugged. “And Fuyumi gave me this.” He showed off the blade, but Natsuo didn’t seem very convinced.

“I’ll stay with you then.”

“No.” Shouto denied. “I want to be alone a little.”

Natsuo left only after a long discussion that consisted on his complaints about leaving Shouto alone and Shouto’s eyes stern and steady on his brother, not a single word used to defend his point since Shouto wasn’t very good at them. He was glad his siblings were great in interpreting his eyeing because his other communication forms were mediocre.

And he stayed there for a whole day. He didn’t sleep because that would be dangerous; neither swam anywhere, nor past the reef barrier, nor closer to the palace, just held the coral to stop the current to drive him away. Mostly Shouto floated, something he never did before and had liked a lot once he did. He floated facing the sea first, but quickly thought the small animals coming back to rest in their homes at the reef was boring and switched to floating facing the sky. That was more like it. The night sky had little bright points in it that were indecisive if they were to have light or not, turning their shining on and off, on and off, vibrating in the far away sea from above.

What kept these two oceans apart? Was the air this powerful that it could tear the water path? And if this thing in his lungs now was just so powerful, how were the beings created under it? Humans, huh? Such a terrifying pretty thing.

The morning came and from east the sun brought another boat. Bigger. So much bigger than the last one. Not the biggest one he would see in his whole life, but still had a large hull free from mussels. The bow was decorated with waves and whirls of gold, mimicking a metallic sea, but had no mermaid tailed on it as many other explorer ships had ― what he appreciated very much since the statues always seemed like they were merfolk trapped and cloistered on wood. With tall off-white sails, the bigger of them all showing a symbol he would learn to recognize as a human coat of arms for the royal family of Yaoyorozu.

It took him a while to recognize her too. Seven years changed her, and she hadn’t that jellyfish clothing anymore to surround her hips. The Princess he had saved years before leaned over the side of her boat, holding a big hat with her hands to keep her eyes free from any obstruction. She was smiling like no one ever smiled before. He never saw a smile like that, even if he thought he knew every smile possible from Fuyumi-neesan. Why was she doing that with her face? Creating wrinkles and smashing her eyes, doing anything to look uglier and somehow failing deeply.

“Your Highness, don’t be too close to the border!” The exasperated sound of the voice being heard without any difficulty for him was a shout-out to him about how closer to the boat he had become without realizing.

“He’s out there, sensei! I know he is! I can’t believe I finally have permission to look for him!”

She disappeared for a second, then reappeared in a slim tower high up, with this cone shaped thing close to her eye. Shouto was frowning, one eyebrow trying to climb the other, his lips pushed in confusion. He kind of wished Natsuo was there to tell him what were those stuff but knew his brother wouldn’t approve staying there any further if such a big ship with so many humans was in the picture. At least he did have the decency to get down and underwater when her cone thing pointed his way and her big eye was directly over him.

“I THINK I SAW HIM!” She screamed as Shouto swam deeper, not even trying to get back. “The same white and red hair! The merman that saved me!”

That was the first time she looked for him. Knowing the dangers weren’t enough to keep Shouto from doing stupid things, especially when he told Midoryia about it and his friend got quite interested on it. They both went back to the reef barrier many times, searching for ships and humans to watch, but Todoroki wasn’t satisfied with just any boat. He wanted one specific boat. And he wouldn’t admit it even if it was clear in his face when he saw it again three months later.

The Yaoyorozu Princess became a regular and a top-notch sailor in three years, with trips every three months. First, she was there just to find him, but soon her parents gave her orders and missions to acquire items and buy and sell merchandise overseas. When she got older, diplomatic events were all on her. But Yaoyorozu never happened to appear frustrated by her responsibilities, not while she could sail.

He had been watching for a while now, so he knew Yaoyorozu was always in a sumptuous dress when she first boarded her ship, but it would only last a few minutes after they sailed, and she would change into a more comfortable set of tight pants that rolled around her waist with a large silk belt and a loose shirt tied with well-made loops on her collar and sleeves. Her hair would fall from her respectable bun to a spiky ponytail and her smile would become more fearless, wilder.

Shouto let a bubble come from his mouth and pop over water. By his side, Midoryia nudged his shoulder with an elbow, trying to get him up and not in that weird position that had just his eyes out in the air.

“She’s looking for you again, Todoroki-kun.” The merman said, to which his best friend just narrowed his eyes. “You know she’s looking for you, why that face?”

Was she still, really?

Another bubble.

“Midoryia-kun, I do agree with being suspicious” Iida merged, completely covered by a large coral and standing back to the boat leaving, he refused to even look in that way. “We don’t know this lady’s intentions.”

Iida started accompanying Todoroki and Midoryia the second they knew what his friends were up to. In his defense, he wasn’t there to have fun, but to prevent the others wouldn’t get themselves in any extra danger. And the pair actually had some thanks to give to Iida for that.

“She wants to know who her savior is!” Ochako leaned over Todoroki’s head, her chin on his crown as she watched the Yaoyorozu Princess use a cooper lunette to search the seas for her fated hero. Her romanticism drew her smile and a softness in her eyes that made Midoryia blush. “I can’t believe you never showed up to her.”

Uraraka on the other hand, hesitated for long after learning what her friends were doing. Going so near the coral barrier was a crime punished with perpetual prison and she had to think about her parents that would need her to survive some years ahead. But after a bunch of successful escapades, she let her curiosity beat her as she followed the boys and later got too invested in the love story in her head to leave.

Tsu was the only one left for them to convince, but she got emotional every time they mentioned breaking the law and running to danger, so they decided to let her safe and sound in the palace. Covering their backs of course, if needed. She was still grumpy about it but was getting better.

The Prince didn’t complain over being used as a bed for her elbows, but he knew well how Uraraka saw that scenario and how she thought this to be the beginning to a tragic love story. She was wrong!

Bubble. Bubble.

“Uraraka-san is right, Todoroki. The Princess goes further and further every time. At least tell her to stop. She may get hurt like this.”

Shouto inclined his head, putting the rest of his face above water too now, expulsing Ochako from her place on the process, pink, black and white scales in a blur around him as she was fast to steady herself again. “She can take care of herself. And she’ll give up someday.”

“Or not!” Uraraka chimed, eyes wide and annoyed as the Prince was so oblivious. “She’s been doing this for three years now. She had proven herself to be very persevering.”

Shouto wanted to let a bubble go but returning underwater just for that seemed too childish. He stuck to crossing his arms a little, and then let the pose go since he still felt childlike. When Iida put a hand to his shoulder and fixed his glasses up, the Prince knew he was going to hear it from the last person who still thought his distancing policy was fine.

“Todoroki-kun” there they go “I believe it is really time for you to talk to her and ask her to stop these travels. Humans were not made to be in the ocean. You’re probably putting her in danger by hoping for the day she gives up. And” he cleared his throat “she indeed seems like she won’t give up.”

He didn’t want to. To ask her to stop looking for him didn’t feel right. Yaoyorozu sailed for three years and, although she never got what she was searching for, she never came back unhappy, her ship always brimming with songs and new stories to share. Sometimes, Shouto doubted she was even looking for him. Maybe she was just there for the adventure. That didn’t feel right either, but Todoroki wouldn’t just admit out loud how much he liked knowing someone out there was looking for him even after a decade had been gone.

Plus, what was he going to say? “Hi” didn’t seem to be enough for someone he once saved and now had been avoiding for three years. Should he apologize for running? Or just not comment on it? Should he say he had been accompanying her sails all this time? Would that be creepy? His scowl was getting deeper, heavy on his eyebrows and lips. He really didn’t want to meet her.

“Why don’t you just introduce yourself to her, Todoroki-kun?” Midoryia tried to comfort him, but all he did was to slap information on Shouto’s face.

“Oh shit” He swore, and the other three’s heads shot towards him.

“What is it, Todoroki-san?” Ochako rubbed his arm, frowning and calm.

“Is there something wrong?” Iida flapped his silver and dark blue tail a bit stronger, as he did when he was impatient.

Todoroki looked at them, but his eyes were longer on Midoryia’s until the other boy had a pale face with wide eyes of shock. “The introduction ceremony!” Midoryia shouted. “It’s now!”

As the four started to swim even faster towards the palace, Uraraka really agreeing with Shouto’s first reaction, they passed straight through a somewhat weird pair that had been observing the quartet for a while now. They smiled at each other, rolling their tails together with their partnership as they headed back to the hole they dug their way out earlier. There was someone who was always eager to hear news about the merman Prince, Todoroki Shouto.


	3. two - the water is not wetter this side of the ocean

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You can be a human, you know. That's not impossible. It’s not worthy, kid.”
> 
> Shouto frowned. The merman was weird, talking like two different people at once. "How-"
> 
> His head snapped instantly to the mermaid at the other side, her blushing intense under her eyes and over her nose as she spoke with a hard breathing: "The Sea Witch is the most powerful being in the whole Panthalassa."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW.: Implicit violence against minor. Please consider this while you proceed with the reading.

It is said that every member of the Todoroki Royal family used to possess eyes made with the brightest water from every ocean on the planet, turquoise and vibrant as Caribbean Seas and more. It was also said that, after King Endeavor chose a plebeian to be his Queen, he had offended the deities who gave his family the ocean’s eyes. From the four princes and princess born from their marriage, five eyes were stained with the grey of the sea witches.

No one in the whole palace was allowed to say it out loud, not even think about it, but they all knew Todoroki Enji married Rei to fortify the Royal’s magic, that had been getting weaker with every new generation. And he sought for power from the Sea Witch clan. Fortunately, none of his children ended corrupted by the vile power that their mother passed onto them. Well, maybe because, besides their appearances and weakness, her genes didn’t do much. And Shouto was still under tests.

To say, he wasn’t doing well in some of them. 

“UNFORGIVABLE!” Todoroki Enji, the Endeavor King of the Seven Seas roared around the throne room. The water around him was unbearably hot, sufficient to cook the small marine creatures dumb enough to get close to His Majesty. “What do you think you’re doing by missing your own introductory ceremony and first birthday as Crown Prince! Leaving that nauseous freshwater mermaid to take care of your mess?! The face I lost in front of the lords!”

Aizawa watched as the King paced around in his rage. He was too tired already to meddle in and decided that Enji would be happier ― or less angry at least ― if he were to monologue for a bit. The advisor held back a yawn, even if his eyes weren’t quite open anymore. By his side, the youngest Todoroki prince was just as disconnected from the moment as him.

“You’re too rebellious!” Enji ranted. “How do you expect to be a good King like this?”

Aizawa also decided it wasn’t the time to tell the King how reluctant his son was to become the next King of the merfolk. He didn’t have enough strength to endure that right now. Shouto thought different because the young always have energy to poke wild animals from short lengths.

“I don’t think I want to be King.”

Enji shot his eyes over his son, murderous like he had been only twice before ― once when his Queen marked his heir forever; once when he saw the humans hunt.

“You don’t want to be King?”

“Your Majesty, you’re not wrong.” Aizawa intruded, stepping between them both with his hands up. Was this a wise choice? Better carry on. “His Highness indeed needs more discipline. Failing to attend to his own birthday ball because he was with his friends near the coral barrier, watching human ships, _which is completely against the law_.” The advisor stressed, hard eyes on his student that avoided eye contact. “If he weren’t a prince, he would be in jail now.”

“I said it was an accident.” Aizawa signaled to Shouto shut up. Accident his ass.

He cleared his throat before he continued to soothe the King’s wrath, that now seemed much less than before after hearing how right he was and how wrong his son was. “But maybe your approach on this matter is too violent…”

“I’m not violent!” Enji interrupted, his fist tight around his trident and the weapon beating against the ground with a tug that said different from his words as it sent a hot wave bubbling around him to kilometers away. But Aizawa held him from any more things to say before he was done.

“What I mean is that if you deal with this matter the way you’re doing, all the results you’ll get will be of the Prince defying you even more. You need to step out of this and let it to be taken care of by someone less involved.”

Enji sat on the throne. He took his hand to caress his red bear, still free from happiness on his expressions. The King was good at making noises while considering ideas. Some grumbling and popping that came mostly from his muscles and tendons fixing themselves over each other when he moved the slightest.

“You’re right, Eraser. You’ll excel in this activity, I’m sure.”

“Wait, what?” Shouta’s face fell even more. He always tried to think that nothing could go worse than working for a swimming underwater volcano, but he often forgot that life was insufferable enough to make him set his expectations lower day by day.

“You’ll take care of my son from now on.”

The King was delighted by his amazing idea. Knowing Aizawa, he would put Shouto in line as fast as possible to avoid keeping one more job for himself. It was not like Enji wasn’t able to do it, never, just that he had more important things to do, and Aizawa would be more effective. Yes, that’s it. Effectiveness.

“That’s not what I meant when I said he needed discipline. I didn’t mean me.”

Enji dispensed the complaint with a wave of his hand, ignoring how Shouta narrowed his dark and tired eyes with pure disgust in his direction. He ignored too how Eraser’s tail was bothering him, as it did everyday — yellow wasn’t his color, but nature didn’t think the same. His Majesty was far more worried with the temperamental teen in the room.

“I believe this measure is unnecessary.” Shouto’s tone was unfazed, but his frown was not. “I’m not a child anymore.”

“But you behave like one!” Endeavor punched the arm to his throne. “And until you learn how to be responsible, you’ll be treated as a kid.”

“Maybe if you had let me have a childhood, I wouldn’t have turned out this way.”

“SHOUTO!” Enji screamed on his feet, so fast that his son’s first response was to be in a fighting stance. Both their magics made the water on the room to be unstable and uncomfortable, mostly hot, but freezing if one would be too close to Shouto’s right side. “You better respect me, boy! Eraserhead will be following you until you learn your place and that’s final! Now don’t let me see your face.” He gritted his teeth. “Go and apologize to the nobles. Your sister has already arranged the meetings. Just do as instructed for once.”

The Prince left alone without any more words. After what just happened, he hadn’t any good things to say anyway and just needed some time alone. Aizawa would follow him around everywhere now, so he had to make sure to visit a place one last time for now. It would have to be enough.

* * *

Losing Aizawa wasn’t hard. Mostly because the advisor wasn’t trying to follow him that much, already fed up with his new babysitting job. Fuyumi-nee would have to wait too, because if Shouto were to see any sea lord right now, he would end up impaling them with a giant ice sword, and he wouldn’t even be sorry.

At least those years of palace life gave the Prince time and resources to find and keep several places where he could escape to. His favorite one was a cave, a massive rock cavity with hundreds of meters that ran deeper than he needed; too dark to see a palm before his eyes at some places, shining bright with the sun and the moon at others. The cave where Shouto hid his precious collection was not his own founding. His mother brought him there when he was young, four or five years old. At the time, the holes in the rocks were filled with colorful bottles and medicinal plants, and other people with grey eyes frequented the place. After the incident with his mom, Shouto found his way back to the cave, but it was destroyed, empty of anything where before was a whole clan's heritage, empty of anyone that could look at the little merman with the same eyes as his mother. He stayed there though and made it his own place.

None of his friends had even been there. No. Because Midoryia would try to over analyze it and Iida and Asui would disapprove of his collection while Uraraka would fill him until forever with more of her naive dramas based on her own dreams and assumptions. No, this place was special, was his, and it had everything. Every little thing he ever found, every object lost and retrieved. Relics from sunken ships and happy memories he could think that belonged to him in the first place. Sure, he didn’t know the name for everything in his possession with almost no one to ask about it, but at least he had them. And learning how to use them was such an experience. The human creations in his collection were beautiful.

Sirens didn’t have things like this hollow doll that hid a miniature of itself, also hollow and also hiding something until finishing with the smallest doll, but full this time. They didn’t have either so many maps cut into some thick brown material. If Shouto was right, the Seven Seas under his father’s reign were so little if compared to the big oceans out there like the maps said.

It was true that humans ate fish and other sea creatures, but big fish did eat smaller ones too — just that ripping off their viscera thing that wasn’t on their favor, but that didn’t bother the Prince so much. He had seen worse with his father training him. He was also sure — based on nothing but his own fantasy and desire — that humans didn’t treat their own children like this. At least, that’s what he got from how the Yaoyorozu Princess was unbearably free.

She came back from her most recent trip across the seas that morning, new treasures weighting her ship and her teeth out to exhibit her happiness like all of it, all joy in the world was made only for her. Shouto was not going to admit how jealous he was of the human. He was not, even if all he could think about for all his time watching her come and go was how thrilling must be to stand by her side. To stand even! Legs, right? How come those things were strong enough to support their bodies? And why didn't their skin become dry after standing under the sun all day long? Yaoyorozu's skin was never dry, it always looked as smooth and delicate as the own ocean waves when calm. If Shouto stood under the sun for more than some minutes, his skin would immediately itch, especially those scales over his ribs.

"Being a human has to be better than this."

"Oh" A shadow moved far in the cave; her voice too sweet to be pleasing. Shouto grabbed a sword made of the hard material he learned to call steel. "And it is." A mermaid had been watching him all along. The thought made the Prince tense, checking his whole way until there for when she appeared and finding nothing. The girl had her hazy golden eyes on him, yellow hair in two buns on top of her head, blushing mad with her hands groping her cheeks while she smiled sharp shark teeth. "Todoroki Shouto." She giggled. "Your Highness."

"Who-"

His question lurked permanently on his lips as another siren made his way from the dark. Shouto had never seen a merfolk with a skin that wasn't divided between their tail and their torso, but this merman had his black scales rising and engulfing his abdomen, shoulders, neck, mouth; white lines accompanied the pattern, making two parallels in the middle of his chest and the sides of his hips, but also finished the task of covering his head completely.

"You can be a human, you know. That's not impossible. ~~It’s not worthy, kid.~~ ”

Shouto frowned. The merman was weird, talking like two different people at once. "How-"

His head snapped instantly to the mermaid at the other side, her blushing intense under her eyes and over her nose as she spoke with a hard breathing: "The Sea Witch is the most powerful being in the whole Panthalassa."

"How did you get in here?" He rushed his question, not wanting to be cut out again. His answer was the high-pitched laughter from the girl again, her unintelligible words tossed and mixed together in a nonsensical and dreadful song. Todoroki froze the water close to his hand, creating a short spear as he stood in his threatening manner. "I won't ask again."

"So brave! ~~So dumb~~." 

"There are doors everywhere, merman prince. One of them may take you exactly where you're supposed to be."

"Once when you're ready, of course, to chase after your dream."

"Who are you people-"

Even if Todoroki's question had already been finished, the conversation was cut in half as Endeavor's trident torn the currents to separate his son from the two other mysterious merfolk. When the weapon hit the rock right behind Shouto, after crossing his line of sight like a dash, the whole cave shuddered and grumbled, items from Shouto's collection falling and breaking under loosen rocks. He indeed thought about trying to recover them but was more preoccupied with his father's homicidal gaze.

"STAY AND FIGHT, LOW GRUBS!" The King screamed as the two at the other side of the trident giggled and mumbled, hiding again in the shadows. "Oh, you won't be able to escape from me!"

Endeavor was fast to reach the places where they had been, but even deeper in the dark he found no one. The strangers were gone just like they surged, and the event made Shouto wonder how many times something similar hadn't happened, only he had been unable to see. His hand was gripping his spear tight, eyes down as he still tried to puzzle what just happened out when his father turned to him after his searches meant time lost. "Shouto." He growled. " _What_ are you doing here? What _is_ this place?"

Shouto kept silent and unmoving even if he wished to block his collection from his father’s view. Doing so would only shift Endeavor’s attention from him especially to what he wanted to hide. No emotions. This was a battle. Endeavor couldn’t know the real answers to his questions, and Shouto would have to be smart about this before his father had his own thoughts. It’s just that, if Shouto said something after Enji “figured it” by himself, if what the Prince said didn’t fit what the King imagined or didn’t sound convincing enough, Shouto would be in danger.

”I went out for swimming. I didn’t want the lords to see me so unruly. Ended up here in this cave and those two appeared right after.” Deadpan. At least in that he was sure to act well.

Endeavor’s stare was piercing, his mouth curved in displease as he narrowed his eyes at his heir. The King moved his enormous tail around, the marine blue scales mending well with the water forgotten by the sun as his balance turned and changed towards the static boy a few meters away.

Shouto had seen this posture before a thousand times. Enji was deciding on his words. Sometimes, this was followed by his back turned to his son, right before he left and let Shouto be. Sometimes, he would still open his mouth to threaten and say how the Prince’s actions would always have consequences in a long and powerful scold. Sometimes — most times — it would end with Enji teaching his son a lesson.

He didn’t want that. Todoroki Shouto was disgusted by his father, with the awful things he did for the sake of tradition, power, discipline. Endeavor was a king hated by his close servants, disliked by lords and subordinates, coldly and harshly distant to any other person that didn’t met him — _those lucky bastards._

The Prince swallowed dry. His heart wasn’t speeding after so many years of looking a beast in the eye, but he could still hear his heartbeat on his ears. Muscles tense and waiting. He should never take his eyes off his father’s. That would mean he’s scared, and Endeavor hates the scared ones the most.

The King snarled. “Do you think I’m stupid, boy?”

Shit.


	4. three - it’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Keep quiet. I’m helping you.”
> 
> “A Sea Witch is helping me out of the blue?” Shouto was right to be skeptical. “Business with your clan always have prices.”
> 
> Too bad for Shouto that Dabi’s stare was even colder than his own. “Wasn’t your beautiful mother a Sea Witch too, Crown Prince?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW.: mention of/implicit violence and abuse

Shouto was done. He was done with discipline and scolding. Was done with the cruel punishment his father thought that would be enough to make him "fight back", "be strong", "use his power". Never. He knew the second he gave Endeavor what he wanted, the King would never again settle with any other. That's why Shouto stood still every time during a beating.

He woke up alone and bleeding in his cave, surrounded by every item he cherished crushed and broken, his arms trembling as he forced himself up and hid to avoid the sharks just outside that searched for the hurt animal that called them there with its blood. The Prince hesitated, but if he didn't use his left side to cauterize his wounds and stop the bleeding, the sharks would find him, and all his fight would be for nothing. His breathing was still uneven, though, and he suspected some bone around his middle was broken, but the healers were all in the city, where Enji would know where he was.

Shouto couldn't anymore. Not again. It's been eleven years and it doesn't get any better. Fuyumi was wrong, it only got worse. And if what Natsuo told him three years ago about Endeavor wanting him to lead an army against the humans was still truth, the Prince had even more reasons to avoid coming back. He had to take this chance right now, when Endeavor would think that he was weak and submissive, that he would come back home in shame. The Panthalassa is huge; his father would have a hard time finding him even with all his power. That was the time to leave and never come back, even if he knew Fuyumi would cry for days, weeks in a row; and Natsuo's eyes would never leave the horizon even if he understood.

However, as the Prince looked around in his mess and all his broken parts, collecting and picking fragments of the world above, he had an idea. He didn't have to go far, just where Endeavor couldn't reach. And what a spiteful irony was he going to promote to his father by choosing to be with the race he hated the most. What did those strangers say? The Sea Witch could turn him into a human, right? And his cave wasn't so far away. The only thing he had to do before was to warn his family and friends about his plan, but just enough of it so they wouldn't try to stop him.

The only one of them that lived outside the city walls was Asui. She and all her family were freshwater sirens, and were flouted by many in Endeavor's court, forced to live outside the border. Shouto hoped she was home as he tried to swim there as fast as he could with broken fishbones. He hoped and almost prayed to Susanoo for a second, but remembered he wasn't the most religious person. But maybe he should've because maybe then Asui would be home to stop him from doing such a terrible decision. But he only found her younger siblings. Her parents and her were at the market, working and teaching her the craft, and they would take a while.

"It's ok." He mumbled, unaware of his paler complexion as he clutched his side that finally gave him a rest now that he stopped moving. "Just tell her- you can't forget, tell her I went to see Dabi. I'll become human. Tell her to tell the others and my siblings, but to not tell my father."

"Oji-sama" The little boy hid his younger sister behind his tail, confused eyes. "I don't understand. Who's Dabi? What's human? Why-"

"Just tell her, Asui-kun." Shouto swam back, his eyes reassuring the boy of his request until he met his nod, he just had to make sure now... "What are you going to say?"

Samidare's fringe moved over his small face, covering one of his eyes while the other was shut as he boy recalled the words. "Erm, you'll meet Dabi and become human. She has to warn the others and your family."

"But not the King."

Satsuki pulled her brother's fin to call for his attention and his eyes went wide as he blushed for forgetting. "Not the King! Yes, I know."

Shouto frowned, his eyes slightly squinted, and he considered. "Tell them to meet me in a week by the coral reef." Both Tsuyu's siblings nodded. "Thank you."

He was done and he was going to fix it.

* * *

It used to be a dark lair until Dabi's magic lit it with flaming blue lights. Behind him, Toga and Twice joked, unaware to both their leader's anger and the shivering from the merfolk's ghost that haunted their place. Sometimes, Twice said he could see them, but Dabi and Toga always thought that was mostly out of his disassociation. Dabi, sitting on a rock throne, moving around his bruised, burned, fit together by metal pins tail, remembering what got it the color purple to begin with, simply watched as his goons joined tails to spin around in their messy celebration. What were they celebrating? The merman prince was not there yet! This whole plan could be a fiasco and they didn't seem to care. Everything today was aiming to boil his blood.

"What do you idiots think you're doing when everything could be ruined?" He growled and those two stopped their childish behavior in a sudden, Twice's static and lost while Toga was launched away by inertia.

"What is it, Dabi-chan?" Toga had landed between a few barrels, golden tail hanging loose in front of her as she tried to get off there. "We did everything you asked. I didn't even take his blood. I could've!" She blurted fast, a finger in the air. "But I didn't.” Her finger then landed on her pout as she considered: “Do you think it's tasty?"

Twice leaned over Dabi's tail, impending it from whipping with his anxiety. "Don't worry, boss. The little prince will come. The King was there, and it was not pretty." He joked, a finger crossing through his neck in a death sign. "He'll be here in a second."

Clenched teeth and fists, the Witch pushed Twice away, the pins deep in his tail marking the other merman's face. He deserved it. They both did. If those morons failed to bring Shouto there that night, his whole revenge would be implicated. Endeavor and his folks had to pay for everything they've done as soon as possible, pay for what they did to him, to his clan, to his family. And it all laid on the stupidity of a naive merman prince.

The Sea Witch had a bite and a snap to his partners but went quiet as a loud thump sounded outside and, to his surprise, he found Shouto passed out just outside his lair. _What the..._

"Useless idiots!" Dabi shouted as he swam back inside with the Prince scooped in his arms. "I wanted him here alive!"

Toga backed out, her hands covering her face, eyes wide and trembling but never blinking before Dabi's anger. "D-Dabi-chan, Dabi-chan! We didn't do it!" but as he cornered her, Toga's fear turned to be fake as she poked a knife in his lower abdomen, stopping him in place. He was still angry though. "We didn't do it, Dabi." She pressed the point, pulling out a scale or two. "Spanking. That's not our style."

"Let's calm down." Twice pushed Toga by her shoulders, and Dabi ignored as she bit the air in front of his face before looking away. "The plan is more important."

The Witch tsked, aiming now to just lay the boy in his arms down over a plain rock. Shouto had various bruises over his body and a much-fractured rib. This was bad. That could delay Dabi's plan by three months since, by the time the Prince's rib was healed, the human Princess would be getting ready to leave again. So, he reached at his wall for a green bottle and some plants inside a box.

Toga would watch the Prince while he was away, and Twice would watch Toga so she didn't do anything crazy, but now Dabi took the ingredients to the above water part of his cave, where he could broil them into a healing potion. It was amazing how stronger his magic was out of water, almost as if it was meant to be there since always, his blue fire dancing as he commanded it and wished. Such a shame this would never happen. Once his revenge was over, a Witch would have the throne. Dabi, the Witch King of the Seven Seas. The title sounded good, made him grin. And it was the only scenario that would punish and prevent all Endeavor's crimes. But first, he had to take the Crown Prince off the pool.

Some of his potion was put over Shouto's ribcage, while the rest he made the Prince drink, pretending Toga wasn't talking about how she could help him swallow even if she had this major crush on his best friend to the sound of Twice's approving giggles. Honestly, did he really need them there? Couldn't he just toss them out and do this alone? He actually could but would have to take them back after and a miracle wouldn’t be enough for him to give more of his time to those bastards.

Touching Shouto’s skin and activating his fire to enhance the potion’s effect, the water between their skins boiled and vanished, but the Prince wasn’t burnt. He had taken after his father after all. Dabi considered swimming away after he heard the boy’s grumbles, his eyebrows frowning, but stayed. The little merman’s eyes were opening — well, as much as a swollen purple eye could in the grey one’s case. That was another problem for Dabi to solve, and it was all Endeavor’s fault. Shouto didn’t flinch away, but his meaner wasn’t amiable either. He took after his father in many things: resistance to fire and heat, and cold and indifferent eyes included. Knowing that, Dabi wasn’t scared to activate his magic over the potion he just put in Shouto’s ribs, heating it so its action would be more effective.

“Keep quiet. I’m helping you.”

“A Sea Witch is helping me out of the blue?” Shouto was right to be skeptical. “Business with your clan always have prices.”

Too bad for Shouto that Dabi’s stare was even colder than his own. “Wasn’t your beautiful mother a Sea Witch too, Crown Prince?”

That seemed to make him quiet enough. And also looked like an amazing opportunity.

“And, after all, I’ve changed. I know what people say about me, how I’m responsible for unspeakable crimes. I’m not saying they’re lying, I just got past those stuff.”

Shouto was looking at him without blinking and still frowning. However, the lines in his face weighed a different feeling, the same as his skin was less tense under Dabi’s magic. He didn’t ask, of course, because Shouto wasn’t one to talk much with people he didn’t knew, but his questions were clear — and they meant Dabi was being successful.

“I’m not a villain anymore.” He shrugged like this whole conversation wasn’t planned beforehand. “Just saying.”

“Then why don’t you just turn yourself in to the palace guards?”

“And spend the rest of my life locked in a cage? Who would I be helping like that? I need to pay off my debt. Help some people to compensate my old days.”

“So, you’re… repenting? By helping merfolk?”

He nodded, lazy eyes over the Prince’s bruises and then over a skin balm that he kept for important things. No. He wasn’t going to help him any more than what was needed for the plan. They were late enough already.

“You wouldn’t believe, Todoroki-kun” He eyes the boy with all his faked innocence. “How many poor unfortunate souls need a little magic to reach their dreams. And I help them. Yes, indeed.”

He could hear Twice and Toga laughing in the back but hoped Shouto was still too confused after his passing out to notice them (or they would end up losing an eye each).

The Prince’s eyes diverted from the Witch working on his wounds, focused away as his hands formed fists. If he could see Dabi’s expression, he would spot the victory sparkle in him, already seeing the finishing line, and he was the first place.

“So…” Dabi said after finished Shouto’s bandages. “What brings you here instead of the palace healers? I heard the Second Prince is an exceptionally good one.”

“Ah.” Shouto sat on the rock, touching the algae rolling around his torso. The one around his head would leave stink all over his hair later. “I need a favor.”

The Witch faced the other way, his back to the Prince that stared him with hope. Shouto couldn’t see Dabi’s vicious smile spreading as he fell straight into his trap.

“I’m running away from the palace. And I need you to make me human.”

Twice elbowed Toga after receiving Dabi’s glare. That was their cue! Soon, their loud gasps were the background to Dabi turning on his fins, open mouth and wide eyes for all his fakest shock. “Oh my…” he murmured, letting space for his comrades’ whispers to hit Shouto too. “Why would the Crown Prince want to run away? And become human? Isn’t the palace of King Endeavor the happiest place in all Panthalassa?”

“It’s not a happy place.” though his words were bland and spartan, and itched Dabi to dig deeper, they would have to be enough.

The Witch swam closer to his shelves, already gathering what would be necessary. This kind of spell was going to cost him much energy, but it would be worthy. He was going to be King Dabi. King.

“It is a big favor, nonetheless. It will have a big price.” Shouto was still staring at him all naive when Dabi eyed him over his shoulder with his big bright blue eyes. “Magic always comes with a price.”

None of his clients could say he didn’t warn them. Magic has a price. And everyone pays, one way or another.

“What is it?” Shouto shifted, out of the rock already but not daring to come closer.

“For this one, just a little thing.” Twice grabbed Shouto by his arms, not letting the boy move even when the startle made him jump.

Toga was already smiling over him, holding his face between her hands, her eyes traveling to the blood staining his forehead and his scar. “Pretty.” She shushed. “You won’t even miss it.”

“You become human.” Dabi shook a bottle between his fingers, the liquid inside neon lime. “You escape from the palace and Endeavor’s cruelty. You’re free.” Shouto’s eyebrows shot up at the mention of such a dream. He never even dared to think this would be possible. He could do anything to be really free. “All you have do to is give me your right eye.”

“W-What?”

Suddenly Toga’s thumb pressing under his eye socket was too much of a touch.

“You won’t even miss it. Just one eye in exchange for your dream. You won’t go blind.” Dabi shrugged, hands like a balance weighting this easy choice. “Here” he pointed to his own eye. “I’ll give one of mine if you want. You’ll get matching eyes as a bonus.”

He had to twist himself a little but was away from their grips in a while. By then it was starting to be impossible to ignore the alarm inside his head. Maybe this was a mistake.

“C’mon, Shouto-kun” Toga smiled curling her hands around his nape. “Don’t you want to be human?”

“Yeah, don’t you want to be like that girl? The human Princess on the ship? What’s her name again?”

“Yaoyorozu Momo.” Dabi answered Twice’s question, ignoring how he still blabbered other nonsense right after. “The girl on the ship. You want to be like her, right?” One eyebrow up, a convincing smile. “First step is becoming human. You just have to say yes. Or… you can come back to Endeavor.”

Shouto blinked. This was a huge mistake, but he took the bottle from Dabi’s hands and tried not to move as Toga approached him with a very curved spoon. Her giggles filled his ears alongside his heartbeat and hard breathing. Twice was holding his tail, he noticed as his reflexes tried to make him swim away and he couldn’t. Dabi smiled to him.

“There, there. It won’t hurt. Much.”


	5. four - shouto versus the humans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Now, care to explain what the hell have you done? Where is your eye?"
> 
> The former merman Prince covered half of his face with his palm, noting an eyeball there and not a hollow spot. But if Aizawa said something about it, then it wasn't just like before, maybe the Witch had indeed given him one of his own eyes as compensation. And it may be just his imagination, but colors seemed different now, especially if he covered just his originally own eye. [...]
> 
> "I made a deal with Dabi, the Sea Witch to become human in exchange for my grey eye."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there! Sorry for going missing for so long, I'm actually writting for the 2020 Todomomo Mini Bang and focusing on that plot made me ignore this one (plus my [online] classes came back already and that's tiring. But I still plan to finish this story, so don't worry. I hope you'll like this chapter too!

Sand grains creaked under Shouto's shoulder blades, rolling and scrapping his skin unlike the soft mounds he was used to while lying on the ocean bed. This sand was rougher, dryer, harder than before. He had felt this only once actually, many, many years ago when he saved a human girl and laid on the beach by her side, waiting for her to come back alive. And as his eyes shot open, he remembered why he could feel this way again: he was on land.

His lower body was tingling but it didn't hurt; ribs not scratching either. However, his head was aching, throbbing with each heartbeat as he sat up and up with his torso came... a long stick covered in skin that ended in five weird meat cylinders, also covered with white hairs that resembled the color from his original scales. He let go a scream. It was short with the shock as he fell backwards and hit his head on the ground and ended growling. Since when was the floor so hard? You know what, it doesn't matter, he had a leg now! He brought it up again, laying on his torso with his, uh, foot? that's the name? Well, his foot blocking the sun, light rays passing through his toes and glistening his nails.

Shouto shivered when a cold thing touched his other extremity and looked at it. Another leg! The water he once called home was engulfing his foot. This leg had red hairs instead and, wet as they were, when the wind came, his skin erupted in this oddest sensation, every pore he had overexcited and raising the little hairs up with this sudden cold. What was that? It went as fast as it came and soon his skin - that now covered everywhere in his body! - was warming up in the sun as if he was at the best thermal water in the palace, but better. He breathed in this wind, this air, this smell so fainter, just for the delicate. Everything was so dry. It smelled like free.

Now, how did humans do this? All this skin seemed brittle and weak. How did they stand? Ok, so hands on the ground - still getting used to this dry sand - to push him up. His new legs seemed to know what to do because his feet went plain against it too and absorbed to them all his strength from his arms up and up until they held all his body weight. He was tall. There was a line far away that mixed ocean and sky, a horizon bigger than any other he had seen under the dark blue veil of the open seas. Full of possibilities if he was willing to give the first step. But, um, how does he actually take a step? His mind tried to recall how men walked on their boats, bending their knees on one leg with the weight on the toes to push the body forward and doing the same with the other leg to keep on. He tried it and the unbalance almost had him back to the sand, but he held tight to a nearby rock.

"Walking is hard."

"Tell me about it." Aizawa was sitting on a rock, his bright yellow tail hid Shouto from the four pairs of eyes of his friends despite the questions from them as to why. "Now, care to explain what the hell have you done? Where is your eye?"

The former merman Prince covered half of his face with his palm, noting an eyeball there and not a hollow spot. But if Aizawa said something about it, then it wasn't just like before, maybe the Witch had indeed given him one of his own eyes as compensation. And it may be just his imagination, but colors seemed different now, especially if he covered just his originally own eye. He knew it was selfish and completely stupid to ask Dabi to make him human and even be willing to give his eye as payment, but he didn't regret it. Not at all. And standing on the sun like this, on his own two feet and seeing a horizon right there, he wondered what took him so long.

"I made a deal with Dabi, the Sea Witch to become human in exchange for my grey eye."

"That's pretty clear by now, genius" Aizawa grumbled. "Do you even realize what your friends had to do so you wouldn't die? Human don't breathe underwater and can't swim fast enough to reach the shore in time from how deep you were. If it weren't for Asui and Iida, the only thing you'd get from Dabi was a horrible death."

Asui and Iida? Shouto remembered drinking a potion Dabi made for him, remembered this unleashing pain that splat him up in two waist-down. The pain was so fierce that he blacked out and woke up several times. Aizawa was right, humans couldn’t breathe underwater, and passed out, Shouto hadn’t even a chance. His friends saved him again. His hand pressed his chest, imagining his lungs full of a water he couldn’t breathe; his eyes searched for his saviors, even if they were shielded from his vision.

"I didn't think-"

"No shit, Sherlock. It's clear you haven't been thinking for a while now." Aizawa's last bite shut him up as his teacher reached for his temples to massage them, annoyed and tired and very disappointed. "What a mess you created, my Prince. And for Neptune's sake, cover yourself! Humans don't walk around like this."

It wasn't a secret to anyone that Aizawa-sensei was among the most educated merfolk about humans. He spent years studying them before Endeavor recruited him to an undeniable palace job he never wanted, to help preparing for the upcoming war against humanity. Probably because of that, Aizawa Shouta had the weirdest way of speaking proven by how Shouto's name obviously wasn't Sherlock. And for someone that never understood the concept of clothes like the Prince or any other merfolk around, the order to put on some clothes aligned to how Aizawa still refused to let his friends look at him just made the boy glance down to his new body.

"Why do humans cover themselves? It's just legs. I just don't know what that other thing is."

"Just find some clothes, Todoroki! My tail is getting tired and I will _not_ have this conversation with anyone that doesn't actually need it. And I think this means…" His eyes roamed over the four other teenagers and their confused faces. “Yes. This means all of you should return now. I’ll take care of Todoroki.”

“But sensei!” Midoriya complained, balled fists and determined eyes focused on the court teacher and King’s councilor just like the other three’s ones. “We want to help him.”

“We can’t just leave him.”

Aizawa laid a hand over Uraraka’s shoulder to calm her before looking every single one of them in the eye. “And you will if you get out of the way. Now I need to speak to him alone and think of a solution to this problem, and you can’t help. But if you keep here, your families will know that there’s something wrong and the King will know about this too sooner or later. And no one here wants that, am I right?”

All of them were fast to say yes, even if their intonation changed from assertive to scared, strong, firm, shy. It was enough for Aizawa to approve them. “Good. Now leave. I will bring you to see him when he’s ready. And about you, mister” Todoroki gulped, tightening his fists closer to his sides. “Let’s discuss the terms of your contract.”

* * *

He hadn’t really considered having other terms on his deal with Dabi to be honest. It felt like one very stupid move now. After Aizawa screamed with him for not having a copy of their contract and they held a heated argument about telling his father or not ― that Shouto won when he stated Endeavor wouldn’t hesitate to punish him further than death if he knew his most rebellious son had become human, the King’s most hated species, by witchcraft nonetheless ―, the still merman had developed even more his already finely based annoyance towards his Prince.

“You stay at the beach and wait for me.” Aizawa grumbled. “I’ll find Dabi and get my hands on your agreement. Do _not_ leave.”

“Yes, sir.” Todoroki’s voice went a bit louder than expected. There was this difference between water and air that he still didn’t quite grasp ― good luck he wasn’t a fan of talking anyway. And he was starting to consider again to look for some, how did Aizawa called them? Clothes, something to cover his body, yes, because the wind was coming again, and it was not as much pleasant these times. “What are clothes?”

Well, following the growing noise at his distant left, a group of humans was approaching the rock field he found himself in. Maybe they had a spare of clothes for him. It didn’t hurt to ask. He was holding his hand up as one of them saw him, a blond man with an irritated frown that became wide eyes of shock as he checked Shouto from the distance and started running in his direction.

Leg instincts ― all humans had it? It made Todoroki start running away from the blond as soon as he came closer and his crimson eyes locked on his blue ones with this weird kind of rage. Now the Prince could hear him bark to the ones that stayed back there: “Protect the Princess! Turn the fuck around!”. Murmurs and screams muffled Shouto’s fall to the ground as the man bumped and pinned him face down to the sand that went inside his mouth almost instantly. “Threat neutralized.”

“Captain” another blond man stood behind them, looking back and forward from them to their original group. “Who is this?”

“Just a crazy bastard.” The captain shoved Todoroki’s face further into the sand. “Playing nudist in front of the Princess? Fucking pervert. Sero and Kirishima are with the ladies? Check if he’s the only one.”

Todoroki clenched his teeth, spitting out the grains of sand from his lips and elbowed the Captain in the stomach just after his subordinate left them alone enough. The man wasn’t happy, but Shouto was free and ready to fight this madman that simply decided he was going to be beaten. He wasn’t sure how his legs played a part on this though, so he had to rely on his leg instincts again.

Knees slightly bent; fists not very clenched but enough. One step ahead, one punch easily avoided. Todoroki leaned back to avoid one too; and raised one thigh to hit the captain with his kneepad. Ok, this was a good hit, even if his own lower body trembled like anemones once he did it. His opponent was backing away and breathing hard. Dabi gave him a good pair of legs in the end.

“Motherfucker.” He snarled, hand brushing away his cape and reaching for this long thing strapped to his hip. Sword. Shouto had some of those in his collection back in the ocean and could spot it even if this one didn’t have the orange crust along its length.

Fists up again. “I have fucked no mothers.”

If the captain was his only opponent, Todoroki could’ve had a chance, but as his words left his mouth and he captured the blond’s confusion to his response, the Prince was tackled to the ground again by a redhead. This time, he wasn’t given the same opportunities as the man shoved him up to kneel and tied his hands behind his back.

“Oh my God, who are you even?” He asked as his superior pulled his sword back. “All of this just to show off in front of the royals?”

“What are you talking about?” Todoroki shook his arms trying to set free again but gaining just firmer grasps instead. “I was minding my own business and this puffer fish attacked me.”

“Puffer fish?” The red-haired soldier’s snicker was cut by the smack he took behind his head and a reprehension. His name seemed to be Kirishima, as stated in a growl by the blond man. “Sorry.”

“This puffer fish is going to be your personal nightmare, Half’n’Half Bastard! Name is Captain Bakugou Katsuki. And you?”

Captain Bakugou stood with his chest puffed out and chin up, his spiky ash blond hair going everywhere while his trained eyes were static over the Prince as Kirishima had Todoroki on the sand and made them both exchange ― furious ― glances. _Arrogant fucker._ Shouto snarled to himself. This type of idiot only recognized titles and power, just like someone he knew. Well, if it was title and power he wanted, Todoroki would gladly give it to him.

“Crown Prince Todoroki Shouto of Atlantica.”

“Never fucking heard of it.” Bakugou smiled, getting the crazy man onto his trap. “Shitty Hair, you?” He denied with his head just for Bakugou to turn to the other side and scream: “Oi! Flat and Dunce, ever heard of Atlantica?”

“Ain’t that that ocean on the other side of the planet?” The blond from earlier scratched his cheek looking up like the answer would descend from heavens.

“Nah, Kaminari” Thank Neptune, “Flat” and “Dunce” weren’t their names. Shouto supposed this one was the flat one, just because of his features. Maybe Bakugou had facial blindness and needed to guide himself with predominant traits to remember other people’s names. Or he was just dumb. Or mean. “That’s the Atlantic Ocean. But good guess though.”

“Sounds like no one else knows what you’re talking about either, shit face. Means you’ll be taken in for some questions.”

Todoroki shrugged. “I don’t accept that.”

That seemed to put Bakugou on his last nerves. The captain jumped, his hair even more spiky now, much like a lionfish. He approached Shouto, ready to shake him by his coat, but the idiot was naked, which lead to Bakugou grabbing him by the throat instead.

“YOU DON’T GET TO CHOOSE, BASTARD.”

“That’s quite enough, captain.”

Shouto knew that voice. As Bakugou was caught off guard, eyeing up to find her, Todoroki twisted in his place, torn just a bit uncomfortable to check and see he was right and that was the Princess’s ponytail pocking out of what seemed to be a cloth trapezium that she used to hide her face from him. Yaoyorozu wasn’t mean like Bakugou, so maybe, Todoroki considered, he was in the wrong and humans were very offended by other people not covering their bodies, something that was very common to sirens. Aizawa did warn him, but didn’t say it was that serious, didn’t warn him that Yaoyorozu wouldn’t even face him because of that. And that humans would think of him as a pervert.

Her dress brushed his knuckles. So much cloth. She was using layers and layers of clothing for a stroll. The men around used less layers, but all of them wore some. And Todoroki disregarded this cultural difference so much he was about to become a prisoner.

“Lady, step out of this.” Bakugou let go of Todoroki’s neck just to cross his arms in front of his chest. “The officials will deal with this menace.”

“You’re picking on a crazy person on the beach, Bakugou.” The disapproval in her voice didn’t make up for her calling him crazy. Not wearing clothes was this bad?! It only made worse the fact that he couldn’t see her face. “And you’re just mad because he hit you once. And if you think a little bit more, my smart captain, this isn’t an easy task. This man here probably isn’t that simple and shouldn’t be treated like a drunk nobody on a beach.”

“You said yourself he’s crazy!”

“Temporary crazy.” One of her hands, the one that didn’t hold the trapezium, held her skirt up a bit and gave cue to Bakugou and Kirishima to bow. “I’m ending my morning walk now. Give him a suit and take him to the palace with us. And don’t fight any longer.” The trapezium shifted almost like she would set it aside, but she didn’t. “I mean this for you too, sir.” The Princess looked down even if her features were hidden for all. “Please don’t fight. No one will hurt you; you have my word.”

As she turned to go, captain Bakugou threw his red cape over Todoroki, covering him with a tch itching between his teeth. Shouto wasn't planning on thanking him for some kindness he did only because ordered, so he let his eyes wonder and land on Yaoyorozu's figure. Her voice was soothing and calm. He had heard her scream above the tides, but her speaking tone was something else. These clothes she wore now didn't leave much of her skin out, with long sleeves and a skirt that remembered him of the jellyfishes back home, just like when he saved her as children; it didn't remember him much how free she was when on board, but it sure gave her this authoritarian aura, this certainty on who one should pay attention to in a room. Not that Yaoyorozu needed any aid in having attention, in subtly saying she was the most interesting thing to meet in miles. If she was there, she always had his attention at least.

"My name" Todoroki caught himself saying and he didn't regret it as her eyes traveled back to him, her body twisted to the torso and eyes quiet and absorbing his features, not concerned anymore for vexation as he wore Bakugou's cape. Her eyelashes were very long. "My name is Todoroki Shouto."

She bent her head, eyes closed for a second and just a shadow of a smile on her lips to taunt him and make him long for her laughter. "I'll keep that in mind, Todoroki-san."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, just for clearance, the meme is obviously not by me. It's a tweet by @perdizzion (citra) on July 22, 2018 and I honestly laugh everytime I see it because yes  
> I also hope you liked this chapter and their first encounter. There's more Todomomo coming now that they both know each other closer and I guess the first Momo chapter will be coming very soon! Thank you for reading!


	6. five - blue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dabi had no written contract to give, but when Aizawa asked, he ran his hand over Shouto’s eye that the Witch now wore, and the orb started do glow in bright blue, clarifying straight into the other merman what the curse was all about. He knew the terms now, and he told them to the young Crown Prince. Told him how his humanity was temporary and the only way to make it permanent was to find love ― the only thing Shouto was one hundred percent sure didn’t exist ―, and if he didn’t by the end of three months, he would turn into seafoam.

She wasn’t crazy. Nor dumb or forgetful. Indeed, her memory and intelligence granted her the title of Genius Princess across the provinces. And Momo remembered very well those weird hair colors, ten years before, from when she almost died and discovered sirens exist.

 _Now, now, let’s not get too ahead of ourselves._ She thought, biting her lip behind her favorite red fan before putting it down on the closest maid’s platter and letting her take it away. His hair was very remarkable, but she couldn’t assume it was him or that he had anything to do with the merman in the past.

He obviously had legs, and even if some sailors from other islands told her the merfolk gained legs if outside the water, she remembered the boy stood in the sun for long and didn’t lose his tail. And the stranger had the waves bathing up to his calves and hadn’t returned to be half fish, so that was improbable. Her best bet was that his hair was natural from some island she didn’t know yet ― maybe a hidden island! ― and the sirens lived there.

And there were his eyes.

It couldn’t be him. However, she didn’t dare to look at his eyes at first, fearing the worse she found when she finally did. Of course, it couldn’t be him. His eyes were bright blue, turquoise even, and the boy’s eyes were grey.

As Princess Yaoyorozu shook her leg restlessly under the table, hoping no one would notice the silverware in front of her clinking on her plate, she waited for her guest to grace her with his presence. She wanted to interrogate him, that was the word, but princesses don’t do such a thing, and her Guard wouldn’t be as precise as she wanted them to be, after all, they didn’t know everything she did. So, she waited for him, her posture perfect on her chair, to just _question_ him. A much more polite ― even though slower ― way to find out the answers she needed.

And of course, captain Bakugou didn’t let her be alone with the “threat”. He was only trying to pester Todoroki after his pride was hurt with that kick, but he managed to make all the Princess’s bedchamber maids to stand besides the butler and the dinner maids, as well as he put five guards outside the three doors that lead to the dinning hall, and he himself stood at the corners and windows with his most loyal men scattered across the room. Honestly, it was so crowded in there that it felt like a party. How was she supposed to make Todoroki relax and reveal his secrets if he had more than twenty pairs of eyes watching his every move?!

She was about to ask at least half of them to leave when the double doors in front of her were opened and Todoroki-san was there. Properly dressed this time, Todoroki wore a white blouse under a streaked blue vest, and brown trousers that were lost inside black jackboots. He held his coat folded on his arm, which was, in front of a Princess and with no reason at all, at least very laid back ― just so she wouldn’t call him impolite or libertine as her mother would.

“Todoroki-san.” She got up to pay him respect but avoided to bow. “May I ask why you’re not wearing your coat? Is it not of your liking?”

Todoroki glanced at the cloth piece as if he just discovered it was there. To his unmovable face, his shoulders shrugged. “It’s hot today.”

“Well…” She started but Bakugou was eager to bicker.

“Put your damn coat on, bastard. Show some damn respect to the ladies.”

The former merman looked at the captain with knitted brows. At a second glance, he could tell Yaoyorozu’s cheeks and nose bridge were tinted in pink as she covered her mouth behind a gloved hand and looked down to hem. “Thank you, Bakugou-san. Just try to refrain from such vulgar words in the future.”

“I didn’t mean to be rude.” Shoto muttered, sliding his arms into the thick sleeves under the captain’s critical gaze. “Your customs are very different from mine.”

Yaoyorozu sat back with a smile, her hand gracious in pointing Todoroki the only other seat opposite to hers in the long table. Maids rushed to serve him his food as well as hers, and she thanked in a low voice before resuming her table manners and taking the first bite. Todoroki didn’t move though. He watched her hands instead, and the way she cut the chicken. His eyes traveling from her plate to her fork and up until he locked his eyes on her mouth just as she was about to put her food in it.

The Princess froze in her tracks, not shifting in her seat as discomfort demanded. She eyed him right back, putting her fork down. “Is there something wrong, Todoroki-san?”

“Huh?”

Yaoyorozu brought her napkin to block the lower part of her blushing face. His eyes were too unscrupulous. His culture must be really liberal for him to think it’s normal to stare at a stranger’s lips so intently. Or maybe he was thinking of something he shouldn’t. “Erm, you’re staring, Todoroki.”

“Ah,” his back straightened the slightest. “I’m trying to learn how to use your tableware. Back home, we eat with, uh, chopsticks.”

“Oh…” Yaoyorozu’s blush glowed up to her ears now and she really missed having her fan. How could she assume he was thinking about her like that! He was just trying to lead himself into her customs. She should’ve asked him before using western silverware. “We can arrange that. The King and Queen prefer the western style to the traditional Japanese, you know, with the new politics from the Emperor and all. But we still have some items.” She raised her hand, commanding a maid to find him his chopsticks.

“Oh yes, the… the Emperor of the humans.”

Yaoyorozu blinked at him, her hands midway to taking a cup to her lips, and Shouto knew he had made a mistake. Her lips were pursed, eyebrows frowned. “That’s a very dangerous way of thinking. The Emperor doesn’t rule above all humans.”

“I mean,” he was trying to fix it. “ _One_ of the Emperors of humankind. He’s obviously not the only one. Aren’t you feeling a little dry?” He licked his lips.

“Hum, yes.” Well, at least she wasn’t looking at him like he was evil, but Yaoyorozu definitely thought of him as a crazy one. In her eyes, he imagined, the sun had burnt some of his brain. “How long has it been since you’ve drank something? You haven’t touched your glass at all.”

“Drank?” What was this verb? To his question, Yaoyorozu raised her glass a bit. Side eyeing his own, a light-colored liquid hanged inside. He had been a human for one morning and had already many new experiences, right? This one was one of them. Fish don’t drink.

Watching him pretend he wasn’t analyzing the glass, Yaoyorozu went to grab her glass, in a weird hope to help the clueless man on the other side. For her, it was impossible that he didn’t know how to drink from a glass, but her instincts made her believe otherwise. After clearing her throat to call for his attention, she held the glass close to her mouth and turned sideways to let him see how she put her lips on the border and started to turn the glass a little, forcing strong gulps in her slowness to make it clear she was swallowing.

A few moments went by as she lowered her cup and ignored the maids whispering at her and the guards avoiding looking. Todoroki, on the other hand, was blushing mad like he never did before. Even if his face was unmovable marble, his eyes unable to leave her. She came back to sitting properly, wondering why they were all like that as she motioned to Todoroki to do the same. He grabbed the cup and took a small sip, his eyes now tight closed, and he let it go just as fast.

They were halfway through their lunch and, and it was clear enough that he wasn’t from around there and had many odd customs. However, she still had questions to do. Where he’s from. What he is doing there. How long he plans to stay. How he learned to fight. _Have you ever seen a siren?_

“Todoroki-san.”

“Yaoyorozu.”

They both stared at each other’s eyes, caught off guard for their unplanned synchronism. “You may speak first, sir.”

He got up from his chair, cleaning his mouth with a napkin roughly before standing straight at the end of the table. “I still have business to attend this afternoon, Your Highness, and I’m afraid we must part now.”

“Oh…” No! He wanted to leave! How could she find answers if he left? But she couldn’t prevent him from leaving either. “Of course, Todoroki-san. Do you have somewhere to stay the nights?”

“… No.”

Momo smiled, seeing a plan unfolding in front of her. “Then please feel free to come to the palace. We can’t let a guest live unfairly.”

Todoroki nodded, relieved by her kindness and knowing she also meant something else. Something he couldn’t consider now because Aizawa told him with all the letters to wait by the beach and not leave, and this excursion had been long enough.

When he bowed and left, the air entered Yaoyorozu’s lungs easier than it had during all lunch. There was something breathtaking about Todoroki Shouto, but it was lost. He was handsome, and polite to the extent cultural differences allowed him to be, and remarkably mysterious. But he was all wrong, especially his piercing blue eyes.

“Hagakure-san.” She called and her best stealth guard stepped up. “Follow him.”

* * *

Todoroki thought Aizawa would blame him for leaving the beach and making him wait with useful information he probably risked his life to get. He had been in Dabi’s lair, demanded a copy of their contract and actually got it while the little merman prince was out there playing. However, when Todoroki got to the shore, the big blue ocean he once called home showing off tame waves, he found Aizawa laying inside a little boat half full of water to hide his tail, and they exchanged eye contact, the latter’s eyes held no anger at him, but deep concern and the ghost of mourning, and that was worse.

“Todoroki.” Aizawa called, his attention capturing each of his student’s inexpressive features. “You’re in deep trouble, prince.”

He was. Oh, God, he was.

Dabi had no written contract to give, but when Aizawa asked, he ran his hand over Shouto’s eye that the Witch now wore, and the orb started do glow in bright blue, clarifying straight into the other merman what the curse was all about. He knew the terms now, and he told them to the young Crown Prince. Told him how his humanity was temporary and the only way to make it permanent was to find love ― the only thing Shouto was one hundred percent sure didn’t exist ―, and if he didn’t by the end of three months, he would turn into seafoam.

Dabi was an ironic bastard. He made those terms knowing where Shouto’s aptitudes lacked. He meant to kill him: drowned when he just turned human miles under the sea line, turned into water and bubbles and phantom when he failed to find love. He never intended to help him and took more than gave. The Prince’s eye for dying young and alone, what a bargain.

Then, how was Todoroki supposed to find love in the short spoon of three months? He searched for it for years and never found; every other person on the planet searched for it, and yet no one could tell exactly how they found or how they missed it when it was just in front of them.

And why would Dabi target him? Thinking about it, how did Endeavor find him that day at his cave? He never showed any signs of knowing about it until he destroyed everything. And those strangers had been there and put Dabi’s name on his head, they gave him the idea. Yes, he followed it by his own will, he wanted it ― maybe still did ―, but it’s undeniable how he was manipulated.

Stupid. Stupid, Shouto! Why does he always act on his unthought emotions? Why does anger and fear and frustration went as alcohol on his brain, making him unable to discern and think things through? And why does he feel that same anger, that same fear and frustration over and over again?, like misery worked its claws on his fate soon after he was born.

Aizawa-sensei wasn’t angry. He pitied him. And that was worse.

“What should I do?” Todoroki hoped his voice wasn’t shaking like his fists were. He couldn’t face up. He had done so many wrongs in a row now, he needed guidance just for one decision.

“The obvious,” Aizawa’s words were a pang. “You’ll try to find love and I-”

Shouto’s scorn was loud as he laid his head back, anger fueling him again. “Ha!” The Prince gritted his teeth. “I hope the next part is better because that’s impossible. Love doesn’t exist. Not for me.”

Aizawa Shouta stared at his Prince mainly out of discontentment with his tone. Todoroki was a very spoiled brat with a sharp tongue and no emotional intelligence. But he was also a traumatized kid who just learned he had three months to live, so the teacher found himself staring at the boy with less aggressiveness.

“I don’t care if you don’t believe in love or any of this bullshit,” he started, taking Shouto off guard, making him step behind. “But if it is in Dabi’s curse, it means it can be done. Magic follows certain rules, and a permanence clause must always be achievable. You’ll go out there, you’ll use your brain and you’ll find whatever it is that will satisfy the contract.” He paused, breathing out deep to control himself after his discourse. At least his words seemed to shake Todoroki a bit, make him consider more what he just heard and see the other facets of the problem. “And if that fails,” Aizawa shook his head. “I will be studying the history of witchcraft and see if there’s some other way to contour the curse.”

“Does any part of the contract say that I have to look for the thing alone?” He wouldn’t be able to do this alone; he knew. Shouto was too aloof, too dense to notice the details and the whys. But he knew just who wasn’t.

“No. You can have help.” Pride glistened in Aizawa’s smile as he glanced at the Prince’s idea. “I’ll talk to your friends and instruct them to get to you. This city you are was built on a river delta, so it won’t be hard for them to reach you. Bring me a political map and a hydrographic map of the city in three days and I’ll mark the safe places you can meet.”

“And, Todoroki,” Aizawa was dead serious. “Under any circumstances you should reveal the existence of our folk. Do not. Utter. A word. You heard me?”

Shouto nodded. Being silent was one of his strengths. Even if not revealing his true nature and his people’s secret to Yaoyorozu’s smart moves would be hard, making her wait and be curious would also let him be at the palace, where he would have roof, food and clothes ― and he could see her daily.

He couldn’t tell her where he came from, but he sure could listen where she had gone to. Yes. Dabi hadn’t robbed him of his dream yet. Shouto never expected to live long or happily, always waiting for the day his father would snap at him or something of the sort, but now happiness or at least joy ― he would take even relief or calm ― met him and gave him three months. Three months of safety, by her side. He would take it without consideration, maybe that’s why he was fooled in the first place.

“She’ll never hear it from me.” Todoroki bowed, and Aizawa was pleased enough, even if the little prince’s head seemed to be on someone in specific.

“Three days. Bring me the maps. I’ll be waiting.”

* * *

On the empty beach, Hagakure wasn’t able to hide so close to Todoroki, but she could still hear some faint conversation he had with a tired man inside a boat. Princess Yaoyorozu took what Hagakure discovered without blaming her for not being able to do more. It was enough.

She was sure now he had a secret he was determined to keep from her, what only enticed her curiosity even more. She knew he had peers close by, and he needed a map to mark reunions. If she meant to spy on them, she needed to be at those reunions, or at least have Hagakure there.

“If he is looking for the maps,” she sipped from her teacup, the fine porcelain barely weighting upon her lip with its golden border “let him have it. And keep a close watch to him, find where he’ll be meeting his folks.”

Hagakure giggled as she bit her lip. Her feet had a problem touching the ground as she kicked in excitement. There weren’t many missions inside the kingdom and she often had to leave home for work, so this was a special occasion. And a very unique one as well, with a very handsome stranger in the middle of it.

“Should I report to captain Bakugou, Your Highness?”

“No.” The Princess’ sharp eyes focused on her guard’s bubbly expression turning into surprise. She questioned out of protocol, and wasn’t expecting a no. But Bakugou-san would never approve. If Todoroki-san was bringing people into the kingdom under the radar and finding maps to discover safe places, the captain would take him as a spy from Shigaraki at once and never get the information Momo wanted. “You’ll report directly to me. This is a classified mission. I’ll cover for you on court.”

Still a bit lost, but even more excited now, Hagakure bowed, pressing her mouth against a smile. “Yes, Princess.”

Against her, Todoroki Shouto didn’t stand a chance.


	7. six - tale of two kingdoms

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S ALIVE!!!! Sorry for the long wait, this chapter did block me a lot and my first response to hard things is procrastination :)

The Yaoyorozu clan started with the Shimura Princess marrying the very wealthy and influential Duke Yaoyorozu. Their reign would start more than a decade later with the death of the princess’ mother, the Great Queen Shimura Nana, who bestowed for her children half of her domain each. Her eldest child’s family, the Yaoyorozu, would rule upon the seaside; and her youngest’s, who should maintain the Shimura name, upon the mountains. Both sides of the divided kingdom had their advantages, one for commerce and culture and the other for agriculture and military, and so they were meant to be a helping hand to each other.

However, due to the premature and mysterious death of the Prince of the Shimura clan and his wife, Queen Nana had to reconsider her choices, and appointed her best councilor to help raise and educate her now orphan grandchild, who was to inherit all that land after her passing. She also appointed her best apprentice to rule while Shimura Tenko wasn’t old enough for it. And it went like this, with the two best knights of the Shimura kingdom in power when the Queen died.

At least until Tenko completed sixteen years old. The lords at the mountain kingdom feared the day Nana’s grandson would be crowned. His raising by the mischievous lord known as All for One brought to surface a very disturbing personality no one would imagine the little prince had in himself. With the years running by, the nobles tried many times to throw All for One out of the palace, but the councilor and knight was too powerful, and had the late Queen’s order to back him up. The only thing the nobles could do to suppress him was to support the temporary regent, Sir All Might, who had also been appointed by Her Late Majesty at a young age and grew into the most brilliant governor.

However, Prince Shimura Tenko was sixteen now. He was to assume his throne at any second and rule his voice with All for One’s words above every mountain in his reach and, if the evil knight was to succeed, above every grain of sand his aunt’s kingdom too. In a desperate measure, the lords planned a coup that would make Sir All Might king of the mountains. The knight was set to battle against his nemesis as they intended for long, and the nobleman of the senate stood up against the Prince on the very day of his coronation.

“Shimura Tenko, you are not worthy of your grandmother’s great crown!” They had said. “You were raised by evil and evil you became,” and “You are but a puppet on the master’s hand and not fit to think and act for yourself and your kingdom.”

The uproar took several noble lords and even some servants around to agree and shout. The smarter ones quivered and had their eyes widened as the Prince put his cup down on the banquet and laid back on his seat.

“It seems Master was right, and I was a fool to put faith in any of you.” Tenko tilted his head, lazy mad eyes fixed on a point above in the ceiling, disappointed. He had fought with All for One, said the lords wouldn’t betray him even at his master’s warning. He was wrong. “Very well, I won’t make that mistake ever again.”

“What are you talking about, child?” One of the lords asked in disgust, watching as the Prince raised his hand to scratch his neck, a habit he grew fond of despite his etiquette teachers’ better judgement. “Someone, come and take him away!”

“Your scheme is trash, that’s what I’m talking about.” Shimura laughed, destabilizing his objectors, his fingers digging deeper at the line between his jaw and neck, rubbing off a little skin and blood. The guards of the lords took the sight as the Prince finally going mad and advanced to arrest him, but oh they shouldn’t have. “It’s such a luck,” he stopped scratching “that I never come a party empty handed.”

The Mountain Coup was dismantled in a bloodshed. Every lord involved and their families were brutally killed by the mercenaries and knights the Prince had brought up under the radar. Yes, his Master had been very injured on his battle against the greedy All Might, but he didn’t leave without harming the other either. And alone, All Might was doomed on the mountains and was forced to flee with how damaged his body was on the duel.

Months later, the news circling on the island were that the mountain kingdom was ruled by a new King, Shigaraki Tomura, and Prince Shimura Tenko was dead. The Yaoyorozu clan was in shock, thinking that their nephew had been betrayed and killed by his master, unaware to the fact that Tenko himself had renounced the Shimura name.

War wasn’t their first response though. The seaside kingdom was peaceful and, although rich, they knew the highly military kingdom in the mountains was more than eager to battle. But war, first response or not, was still a reality. The Yaoyorozu prepared and when Shigaraki attacked, the fight was of a glorious gore. King Shigaraki, the Destroyer, was at the first battle front and there claimed the heads of every Yaoyorozu clan member as his, specially his little cousin’s, Momo, who was to get married and become Crown Princess soon after she turned sixteen herself, for no one should rule but him on that land.

Then two years of war went by. Fortunately, Shigaraki didn’t succeed in ending the Yaoyorozu clan and unifying the old Shimura territory so far, but his spies were to be feared everywhere. And with all reasons now, Todoroki Shouto ― if that was really his name ― was suspected of espionage under the Destroyer’s command.

Well, Todoroki _could_ be a spy if ignored his aloofness, inability to be discreet, blunt-to-rude honesty and dense nature, but he surely wasn’t working for Shigaraki. If he was going to spy, that jocose scene would try to help Atlantica, the other kingdom that wanted to destroy their neighbor.

But again, Todoroki was an awful choice for that work. He was a warrior, mostly a soldier and, although good, not excellent with strategizing and not eager to learn as it would make him a better asset to his father’s plans, relying mainly on his gut and confidence. You’d think someone who was so dependent of his feelings to act would be more emotionally smart, but, for the little merman, no, not really. He was just very good at handling problems as they came ― a big talent for procrastinators ― and had enough brute power to do so.

However, not being top quality spy didn’t mean Todoroki was dumb enough to not notice he was being followed. He took a sharp turn into an alley, gaining some minutes before being found again by his shadow. He didn’t know when it started, but he was sure they were onto him at least since the beach. The Prince held in his breath to compose himself, convinced that his conversation with Aizawa couldn’t be listened completely thanks to the loud waves breaking at the shore.

Who would follow him? The answer came rather quickly: only one person who had seen him was both powerful and smart enough to suspect and follow him. Yaoyorozu. What did she want? Shoto wasn’t sure if he should let her do it. If she kept her eyes on him, she may find his secret and, besides Aizawa’s warning, Todoroki didn’t want to talk about it yet. Not with her. He wanted to spend time with her, as a human, her equal, sharing the same experiences. He did not want to be just her merfolk database, he wanted to be her friend.

Todoroki considered robbing a cloak from a man sitting on a street bar to cover his distinctive hair and walking away until he lost the spy. He could go then to find those maps Aizawa asked for. But then Shoto considered he didn’t know this city, didn’t know where to find the maps and had no time to spend searching without a starting point if he promised to have dinner with Yaoyorozu when it would be very suspicious if he missed it.

Looking up at the sun, Shoto figured it was something of three to four hours after the midday. He was feeling that dryness again, the one the guards commented on him being “thirsty” with weird smiles on their faces. He had no water on him. Well, Shoto had nothing on him, actually; he became human that morning just as he was reborn. Yaoyorozu gave him clothes, food, water. Maybe he could ask a peasant to help him, but he doubted it would be as easy for them to help him as it was for her. He also considered crime but discarded the idea as soon as it came. It was risky, yet he had no better choice than to come back to her. He accepted it without much fight.

It was still relatively early when Shoto returned to the palace gates. His eyes fell on the white marble walls, the towers siding a thick wood drawbridge, with its red tile roofs and clear windows, almost transparent behind intricate iron patterns and one big stained glass window that he suspected shone on the throne room with hot pinks, greens and all kinds of colors that paralleled the brightest coral reefs back home. It was a very different construction from anything he had seen back home. There, they used the natural formations, caves and reefs to mold their buildings; while humans seemed to be able to build beauty out of nothing but their imagination. Sirens were integrated with the nature, but humans were blessed with the ability to create. Shoto wasn’t like them in this aspect, even fearing that he would never be.

The guards took one look at his colorful head before letting him in with weird smiles on their faces. As he passed, he heard a snicker and a joke about hiding their canteens, and Shoto wondered if this had anything to do with the lunch earlier. He swallowed in dry, his throat uncomfortable as he remembered that maybe he had stared at Yaoyorozu too much when she was drinking from her cup. He couldn’t help it. She was every second of a creature he had never imagined that could be real. He just wanted to watch her, but maybe that was rude. He had to apologize then.

“Excuse me.” He stopped a rosy maid. She disposed him a big grin as she widened her yellow eyes to him.

“Yes, Your Grace? Are you looking for Her Highness?”

Shoto frowned. How did she know? “Yes. Do you happen to know where she is?”

Her grin tripled in size, honestly surprising Shoto. “Of course! Follow me! I’m Ashido Mina, by the way.”

“I’m Todoroki Shoto.”

“Oh, pff, I know who you are, Your Grace! You’re the hottest gossip around nowadays…” She winked to him and Shoto let his whole face narrow as he prepared himself to answer with just a “huh”.

Mina laid the pile of towels in her hands aside with another maid before taking a turn to one of the external corridors. By the open walls and arcs, Shoto figured Yaoyorozu must be in one of the royal gardens. He followed Mina closely, watching as she kept her desire to bounce to herself just as much as she kept herself silent.

“So,” she said, hands behind her back and her eyes watching him from above her shoulder. “Are you really a Prince?” Todoroki nodded. “Sweet!” She clapped her hands together. “Does that mean you’ll try to become our Crown Prince?”

Todoroki frowned, his steps a slowed down a little after that question, but Mina showed no signs of stopping, so he caught up to her.

“What do you mean?”

“What do I mean?!” Mina giggled. “Of course I mean to ask if you’ll try to marry Princess Yaoyorozu. She needs to get married soon and the princes from other kingdoms will arrive soon. I thought you were one of them. Aren’t you?”

Shoto blinked. His breathing was hard as he walked and talked at the same time. It had never been like this, but maybe it was normal for humans. He gulped, and instead of taking a deep breath, what his brain needed to calm down was to ask: “She’ll get married soon?”

“Hm, yeah.” Mina scratched her nape, looking ahead. “She needs to get married to become Crown Princess and stabilize the kingdom. There is, umm, competition for the throne.”

His mouth twitched. Wasn’t Yaoyorozu an only child? What competition was Mina talking about? And why should she get married so fast? It annoyed him to the core. Not knowing things, of course, not the fact that she was getting married to some nobody prince that came out of nowhere.

“What competition?”

Mina turned towards him, her smile completely gone as she leaned in and pointed her finger to his chest, and he kept to himself his distaste. He wasn’t a fan of being close.

“I’ve said too much already, Todoroki.” Her tongue popped inside her mouth. “Information is a very valuable thing. Don’t be bite more than you can chew, yes? Now,” Her smile returned, her tone bubbly and chatty again ― as if her black and yellow eyes hadn’t bored themselves inside him a second ago ― while she walked behind him and put her hands on his shoulder to push him ahead. “Just go ahead and you’ll find Her Highness soon enough. Good luck, lover boy!”

Lover? Todoroki gulped. Her odd choice of words made him unable to dig further into his previous question. His head was light and hot, his magic destabilized for the first time since he was just a kid. Shoto coughed and wanted to cool himself down, but as he reached to his ice power, he felt there was something off. It was still there, but he had to make more effort to use it than before. Maybe it was because he was under the hot sun, however his hand ran without a second thought to touch his new blue eye. His mother was a sea witch, her whole clan had grey eyes. Shoto didn’t anymore.

He licked his lips. They were so dry. Everything up there was dry. He wasn’t sure if he liked it anymore.

“Ah, Todoroki-san, there you are!”

Yaoyorozu. His eyes got accommodated to the light and to her, melting his panic for the time being. Sitting by a little pond build in a white rock, surrounded by the beautiful greens and hot colors of flowers, Yaoyorozu was a calming sight with one of her hands touching the surface of the clear water. Dragonflies came to that same pond to drink, unafraid of her, just as the little animals and bugs were across the big garden that showed no shame in front of the Princess. _She must come here a lot_.

It suited her in a different way that the sea suited her. Here, with her big dress pooling from her hips to her feet with pink waves and her hair carefully brushed and tied up with sweet ribbons, her bangs still falling beside her elegant face, Yaoyorozu was the most beautiful Princess he ever saw, with everything she was born to be. But, as soon as her ship sailed, Yaoyorozu wore pants, her hair free, bouffant sleeves for her shirt, high boots and a smile; and she was his Yaoyorozu, the one he liked to think he knew.

It’s a weird form of familiarity. He didn’t know her favorite food, her favorite poet, who was her best friend, yet he was sure he knew her somehow. Standing close to her gentle smile at him, Shoto was struck with embarrassment for all the times he watched her without her knowing. Thinking about it now, he shouldn’t have done it, he should have let her go and not think about her at all anymore. His younger self was really stupid and had no set of boundaries, and he could indeed say he had gotten better at that. So, would she blame him? For the years in silence? Or would she send him away? Hate him? Shoto never wanted to be the reason why Yaoyorozu’s kind heart held hate within.

He must not let her know then. She can’t know he knew her before; she can’t know what he used to be. It’s impossible, he knows, she would never hate him out of something as immovable as his species. But if she knows his father plans on destroying her kingdom slowly out of pure hatred, there’s no way she, as a Princess, would treat him the same way.

To protect her from his father, Shoto was more than willing to serve as an advisor, if she ever wanted to listen to him. He knew how Enji planned to attack their ships and destroy their commerce, weakening their economy before he used the Trident to send them a tsunami to wipe them from existence. If she let him, he would teach her sailors how to fight against sirens, which routes to take to avoid them. Yes, he could help her as a human, he just needed her trust. That was step one.

“Yaoyorozu,” he greeted and walked to stand beside her, his eyes following the swift movements of her fingers on the waterline. “Did you send someone to spy on me today?”

Her hand froze. Yet, in the next second, she kept on moving, as if nothing happened.

“Why do you say that, Todoroki-san?”

Her bangs didn’t hide her face from this side. He could see her unpreoccupied brows, the smooth bridge of her nose, pink cheeks as she looked down to the water. Yaoyorozu was a formidable liar when it came to business. He wondered if she’d lie so well on other aspects too.

“Because I noticed them. It took me a while, but I did,” he answered, albeit it was a rhetorical question. “I don’t blame you. I just wonder what made you distrust me.”

Yaoyorozu was quiet for long, her fingertips drowned inside the pond as she lifted her head and looked ahead, calculating.

“Yes, if you really are from another island, then you really couldn’t know.” Her shoulders bobbed up and down as she breathed in and out, taking her hand away from the water, her eyes on his and telling him he was still a potential enemy. “Could you lend me your handkerchief?”

Shoto looked down to his jacket, his hand patting the chest pockets for what she asked for. In the inside pocket he found what was probably the handkerchief she mentioned, a small square of cloth with the royal family’s coat of arms embroidered on it. He offered it to her, and she took it to dry her wet hand. He wasn’t sure if he should take it back, but Yaoyorozu held it in her hand, close to her heart, and it warmed his insides again.

“I suppose it’s not news at all for him, so I will tell you, Todoroki-san.”

“Him”? She got up from her seat and Todoroki blinked long before following her pace out of the garden. They took the same corridor Mina used to bring him here, so Shoto took the liberty to walk by Yaoyorozu’s side. Her eyes grew cold as she stared ahead, sharp and serious. Her glare, even if not directed torwards him, made him straighten his posture, getting ready for her command.

“I am spying you because I think you may be a spy yourself, for my cousin, the tyrant of the Mountains, Shigaraki Tomura.” Staring at her without pause, Todoroki was able to catch her eyeing him in a flash, looking for a suspicious reaction. “We are at war. None of this information is new to him, so it would be useless to a spy. And,” Yaoyorozu hid a confident smirk “You can’t run away either, I won’t let you.”

“Oh?” Todorokis heart tightened.

“You are trapped in my operation, Todoroki-san” She’s proud. His eyebrows went up, just as the corners of his eyes. Pride is not a sin on her. “In my parents’ absence, I am the Regent, and it’s my responsibility to protect this kingdom from all threats. Unfortunately, until I learn who you really are, Todoroki, you will be considered a threat.”

Shoto pressed his lips to a thin line. “Who I really am?”

“I know you’re not telling me the whole truth.”

“Huh,” he mumbled. It was fair. Still, he wasn’t planning on giving his identity to her so easily either. Another thought came to his mind and Todoroki leaned to watch her face. “And where are your parents?”

Yaoyorozu laughed. A cute giggle that almost made him stop on his tracks just to listen more attentively and _deal_ with whatever mess it made to his chest. “You would like to know, wouldn’t you, mister spy?”

“I would.” He smiled, breathing out like it was a laugh to accompany hers. “But I understand your silence. And your laugh is more than enough of a consolation prize.”

He didn’t understand yet why his honesty made her blush, but Shoto noted her flush, the pride that bloomed in his chest when her body answered like this. And all it took was him to not bottle up and tell her what she caused on him. He’d absolutely do it more often in the future.

They fell into a comfortable silence. Well, Shoto thought it was comfortable, but he judged most silences as such. This one with Yaoyorozu was a particularly comfortable one though. Her presence by his side, even if two people could still stand between them, focused all his senses on her ― the way she walked on the dark rock floor, her pace he tried to keep; the color of her dress, the fading blush on her cheeks to match ― and the overwhelming anxiety of his problematic life was secondary at best.

Yet, it didn’t last.

“How long are you planning on staying, Todoroki-san?”

“I don’t know,” he answered before considering the consequences of his words. He could spot how Yaoyorozu’s attention picked up. Maybe because she was curious about him, maybe because she still deemed him dangerous. “I don’t think I have anywhere else to go.”

“Won’t you go back to your family?”

Shoto tightened his jaw, his hands forming fists. No, he wouldn’t. He didn’t say it out loud, but he let it clear that he wasn’t even thinking of coming back home. She didn’t know he had run away. It had only been a morning and one afternoon, but it was getting hard to define what Yaoyorozu should know about him and what he couldn’t tell.

They fell into silence again. This one less comfortable than the last one. He had no idea on what to say, but they both just kept walking on and on from one corridor to the other, as unable to part as to speak. Or maybe that was just him because as soon as they reached the footing of a long staircase, at the very first step, Yaoyorozu turned towards him so fast that Shoto jumped behind.

“Yaoyorozu?”

“We should go our separate ways now,” she explained a little too fast, avoiding his eyes ever since she mentioned his family fifteen minutes ago. “I’ll get changed for dinner; you should do the same. Ask any of the maids to lead you back to your chambers.”

Todoroki nodded. Her decision seemed more sensible than his of walking in silence until dinner came. She excelled in this kind of things, a perfect fit for a regent.

“Alright. I will see you at dinner, Yaoyorozu.”

He bowed, his hands glued to his sides, with his eyes closed. When he opened them, she had curtsied to him as well, with so much more grace. Todoroki gulped down his dry throat. Damn, he _was_ thirsty.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Thank you for reading this Little Mermaid AU! I hope you enjoyed it! I'm sorry if I made any spelling or grammar mistakes, english is not my first language and I don't have a beta, but I'm making my best. This is my first story posted on AO3 and I'm super excited! Also, please don't mind how many exclamation marks I use because they are many hahah sorry! And thanks again!


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